Many systems are known in the prior art for cutting elongated objects, including elongated rolls formed from web material, into sections or segments. A search conducted relative to the present invention, for example, located the following United States patents which are concerned with cutting or severing elongated objects such as rolls or tubes into shorter segments; U.S. Pat. No. 2,623,443, issued Dec. 30, 1952, U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,934, issued Jul. 31, 1973, U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,867, issued Oct. 6, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,140, issued Jan. 25, 1983, U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,686, issued Aug. 12, 1980, U.S Pat. No. 4,152,958, issued May 8, 1979, U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,841, issued May 23, 1967, U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,459, issued Oct. 23, 1956, U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,996, issued Aug. 11, 1931, U.S. Pat. No. 1,695,264, issued Jan. 8, 1929 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,378, issued Dec. 11, 1984.
Some of the above-identified patents are worthy of special comment. U.S. Pat. No. 2,623,443 relates to the manufacture of helically wound tubes. The tubing is cut into length at preselected locations thereon as it comes off a mandrel, the cut being timed by a detector actuated by control marks on the strip forming the tubing. The tubing is relatively stiff and self supporting, characteristics much different than those found in coreless paper rolls. The patent pays no particular attention to the placement of the saw relative to the mandrel end and the saw follows along with the tubing in the same longitudinal direction during manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,867 provides for the cutting of webs disposed about a tubular core. The cuts are made along the length of the mandrel by a moveable saw carriage, a relatively expensive and complicated arrangement.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,686 and 4,152,958 disclose mechanisms for transversely slicing roll materials while they are on a mandrel. Such arrangements are not entirely satisfactory when dealing with relatively thin, fragile materials such as paper tissue and toweling.
It is also known to sever moving webs of paper toweling, tissue and the like lengthwise between a supply roll and a mandrel having a core of paperboard or plastic disposed thereabout, said core being pre-severed into lengths corresponding to the lengths of the finished products. Such an arrangement has its own attendant problems in that alignment between the severed web segments and core segments must be highly accurately maintained at all times. Then too, the system's use of numerous web segments or strips increases the chance of web breakage. In any event, such approaches are not applicable to the formation of coreless paper roll products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,378 discloses the approach of forming an elongated coreless cant or log of paper (such as paper toweling or tissue) on a mandrel having a polygonal cross-section. According to the teachings of the patent, the elongated log is pulled end-wise from the mandrel once it has been formed. A circular saw arrangement then cuts the completely removed log or cant into individual towels or tissue rolls. A problem presents itself when utilizing this prior art approach since the saw crushes the center of the roll to some degree, resulting in distortion, or even virtual loss, of the polygonal opening through the center of the roll which was caused by, and corresponds to, the mandrel shape. This can make the rolls unsuitable for subsequent use on coreless roll holders.